American hip hop artiste Raja Kumari is coming closer to Indian music with every collaboration. After singing the title track for Shah Rukh Khan’s Jawan, she has now sung in Punjabi for the first time with Guru Randhawa’s recently released track In Love.
“This is very exciting because with Punjabi music, it has been a very personal journey,” says Kumari, who had collaborated with late Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala in 2021 on a track titled Us. The Punjabi song had an English rap piece that was written by Moosewala and sung by Kumari.
“I had a very unique relationship with Sidhu where he really inspired me. We were going to do a second song and he told me, ‘Oh, I would love to hear you sing in Punjabi’. He thought my voice will really suit and sound good in Punjabi,” reveals Kumari, adding, “And when he passed away, I didn’t know when I would ever get a chance to sing in Punjabi.” Moosewala was shot dead by unidentified assailants in May 2022.
Kumari, who hails from a Telugu family, brought up in the US, is completely smitten by the language, and she is elated she finally got to sing in Punjabi. Her latest track with Randhawa titled In Love, talks about a man being in love with a powerful woman, something that Kumari says resonates with her.
“My perspective and experience comes from the fact that most of the songs I’ve done earlier are about victory, anthems and bad bi*ch vibe tracks. But, this love song really gave me space to be myself and find my femininity within,” says the hip-hop artist, who has worked with international stars such as Gwen Stephani and John Legend.
Also Read: Raja Kumari: I embrace my body but don’t want to be labelled as plus size
Drawing comparison with hip-hop as a genre, Kumari gushes over Punjabi music, saying, “It enables men to express their deep love for their women, which is kind of lacking in hip hop. On these collaborations, this is the part I really enjoy experiencing. I felt so connected to the song. I had a lot of fun writing it with Guru and then singing it.”
Kumari is grateful that Guru gave her full scope and space to not only learn the language but also experiment with it a lot. “He’s like a machine; anything that comes out of his mouth is perfectly made and so much fun. He has a great writing style. I told him that I wanted to try something new that would let me push myself. I loved how he was able to capture my personality in Punjabi lyrics. He gave me really feisty lyrics and the song is just where I am. I want to be celebrated, I wanted to have fun with my femininity,” she concludes.
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